master5597 Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I have a nvidia G92-761-B1 based 1Gig MXM HE card (maybe a GTX280M?) that I'd like to put in my early 2008 24" A1225 (EMC 2211) iMac. (This is part of an upgrade to sata ssd, OWC's 6gig of ram, and a new 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 DUO Mobile E8435 SLAQD 6MB 1066MHz processor. Might as well do it all at once)From my research all the items except the video card should be 'plug & play'. I expect I'll need to re-flash my video card with an apple rom. I think I can use the 8800GS rom that was an option for this iMac, but I know there are better choices to be able to utilize more of this video card. maybe a 9800 GTX+ rom? Can someone point me to an existing rom that would be best for this card or do I need to try and stitch one together? My rom chip is a SST25VF512A-33-4C-SAE (512k), but I can replace it if needed.I found a GTX 285 EFI64 rom from http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,2187.0.html(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4133784/OrigRom/evga285m.rom) which might work? I'm worried because most of the roms I find are for PCI cards in mac pros. This is a MXM HE card (PCI ish), so is the rom different? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/311711-gtx280m-in-an-early-2008-imac/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouCioccio Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 That interesting. I have a non-apple video card in my 2006 Mac Pro I do not get the boot screen until the logon screen as it does not have an apple flashed rom. So how are you going to flash it? I know on the PCI cards I would need a PC. My guess if its an Nvidia it should work with the Apple drivers similar to mine. What you would not get is single user mode. It may work in recovery mode but it uses a kludgey graphics. I don't know if you'll find a rom unless someone has away to get a copy from an iMac?? Good luck. Lou Cioccio PS Maybe email http://www.macvidcards.comthese fellows may be able to help. Like I always tell people just ask...you may get a yes or no but at least ask. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/311711-gtx280m-in-an-early-2008-imac/#findComment-2231104 Share on other sites More sharing options...
master5597 Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 From what I've read, I could boot off a cdrom or bootcamp and do a firmware update. (I looked around for MXM HE to PCI adapters, but they don't seem to be available anymore) I believe I have the Apple iMac rom for the Nvidia 8800GS that was an option for this iMac. (and the application to flash it) The 8800GS uses the same base GPU processor, so from what I've read it should work if nothing else does. It just won't use all the GPU cores or all the ram. I think what you are saying is that your non-apple video card works fine from the login screen forward, and mine might do the same just as it is. Won't hurt to try that once i open my iMac up. I was curious about http://www.macvidcards.com/, but it seemed like they only supported PCI cards for the Mac Pros. But as you suggest it doesn't hurt to ask. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/311711-gtx280m-in-an-early-2008-imac/#findComment-2231284 Share on other sites More sharing options...
master5597 Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Just as an update http://www.macvidcards.com/ doesn't support iMac video cards. So I'm still on my search. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/311711-gtx280m-in-an-early-2008-imac/#findComment-2237075 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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